Brian Hooker is
the father of a son with autism and he holds a PhD in Biochemical Engineering,
in addition to being a dedicated member of the autism community. He also played a role in how the House autism hearing came
to be.

Brian
explained how he became involved in the hearing.

My
initial thanks go to Dr. Mark Geier and David Geier, who strategically linked
me up with a friend of theirs, who in turn has become my good friend as well.
Through the work of this individual, Dr. Andrew Wakefield and I were invited to
meet with Rep. Darrell Issa, Rep. Vern Buchanan and their wives in early May,
2012 to discuss malfeasance in the CDC regarding autism and vaccines. Andy
discussed the MMR vaccine and the vaccine schedule. I talked specifically
about thimerosal and the cover-up of CDC data that affirm a causal relationship
between thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disorders including autism.
Rep. Issa was concerned regarding the CDC information and stated that this was
the type of government misconduct that his committee (Oversight and Government
Reform) specifically addressed.

I
was in DC for a National Science Foundation function later the same month and
had the opportunity to meet with Reps. Issa and Buchanan again, this time with
Rep. Dan Burton. Rep. Issa affirmed his commitment to hold a hearing at
that time. Rep. Burton detailed his valiant efforts to get the CDC and
large pharma to remove mercury from vaccines and indicated that they wouldn’t
listen to him.

I’ve
worked very diligently since May with the Oversight committee staff to convey
what I had found via the FOIA and to get additional information from CDC
relevant to thimerosal. Along the way, I gained the support of Barry and
Dolly Segal, through Focus Autism and they have become pivotal to this entire
effort. In addition, I received a very significant amount of assistance
from Dawn Loughborough, Bob Krakow, Bobbie Manning and Louise Habakus.
They are all amazing sources of insight and have advised me throughout the
process. I also need to acknowledge my friends at EBCALA, especially
Louis Conte, Rolf Hazlehurst, Becky Estepp and Kevin Barry, who have been
working with the committee staff very effectively regarding NVICP reform.

I
was able to meet with the Oversight committee staff several times between May
and November, up to the day before the hearing, to discuss the pertinent
details. I also was corresponding with Beth Clay from SafeMinds who was working
very diligently on the issue as well. When the
committee staff finally indicated the participants in the panel, I was
disappointed because there was only one participating organization (Safeminds) that
included the relationship of vaccines (specifically thimerosal) to autism
causation within their mission. The
rest of the panel would either avoid the issue or deny any causal
relationship. Given the importance of autism causation, this was just not
a balanced panel.

I asked
Brian about his efforts to gather information about the actions of the CDC.

What kind
of information were you seeking from the CDC with your FOIA requests?

All
kinds. I have made over 100 FOIA requests to the CDC over the last 8
years and received thousands of pages of information. This has been a
very thorough compilation of work. David Geier, who is my mentor
regarding the FOIA, got me started doing FOIA requests back in 2004.
David has also reviewed nearly everything I have received.

I
have specifically requested information for the 5 CDC studies on thimerosal and
autism prior to 2004 that led to the IOM Immunization Safety Review Committee
report “Vaccines and Autism” released in May 2004. In this report,
primarily due to committee chairperson Dr. Marie McCormick (Harvard University)
and study director Dr. Kathleen Stratton (IOM), causation was denied between
thimerosal containing vaccines and autism (as well as the MMR vaccine and
autism). This report also effectively shut down government funding for
any further "independent" research on vaccines and autism. This
information is crucial, given the constant reference that the CDC and others
make to the 2004 IOM report. Most of the key components of the FOIAed
information have been completely redacted by the CDC.

I
also requested information on PoulThorsen and his connection to CDC, obviously
because of his co-authorship in studies that bolstered the body of evidence
denying vaccine causation in autism and his known culpability and fraud
indictments, being on the DHHS OIG Most Wanted Fugitive list. The
majority of this information has been withheld by the CDC.

Finally,
I have requested information on two of the latest CDC studies again denying
causation between neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and thimerosal exposure
including Thompson et al. 2007 (NEJM 357:1281) and Price et al. 2010
(Pediatrics 126:656). These two publications are indiscernible from an
epidemiology standpoint. This information has yet to be released from the
CDC.

For
years the CDC has acted as though they’ve seriously addressed the question of a
link between vaccines and autism and according to their research; there simply
isn’t any. How would you characterize what the CDC has done?

I
would challenge anyone who would rely in the veracity of the CDC studies.
They've repeatedly, purposefully withheld data that clearly show a link between
thimerosal and autism (among other NDD's). They've obfuscated the main
issue via obviously biased statistical manipulation. Clearly, the CDC's
conflicted role of vaccine advocate and vaccine safety guardian has contributed
to this whole problem.

How
did the agency charged with the oversight of our children’s health instead
become complicit in covering up a disaster?

Several
reasons. I believe the physicians and scientists who have controlled the
agenda for CDC for many years have a fear of infectious disease that is
unsupported by science. As a good friend reminded me recently, the United
States by far has the most recommended vaccinations given to children than any
other nation in the world (49 by age 6 years old), yet we have some of the
sickest children. We rank 34th in infant mortality based on
2009 data. The fear of epidemics of infectious disease drummed by U.S. public
health officials and pharmaceutical manufacturers is extremely heightened.
However, in other countries where they vaccinate less and had banned thimerosal
use many years ago, we do not see evidence of mass infectious disease
spread.

I
also believe that thimerosal has not been removed from U.S. vaccines due to
various issues in a concerted effort towards the globalization of
vaccines. This is heavily influenced by three things: (1) perceived
manufacturing and cold chain distribution problems, (2) the influence of the
GAVI Alliance and the World Health Organization involving the preceding factors
and (3) international political considerations because of the perception in
developing nations about distributing thimerosal containing vaccines there when
there is removal of thimerosal here.

Unfortunately
we have seen a lack of integrity in other industries, and we can’t assume CDC
employees are not immune to falling into this vicious cycle. Many vaccine
scientists and other officials look forward to very lucrative careers with
pharmaceutical manufacturers after they have worked professionally at
CDC. Two rather dubious examples are Dr. Julie Gerberding, former
Director of CDC during the last decade who was recently appointed as head of
the vaccine division of Merck and Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, who was the lead
author of the Verstraeten et al. 2003 study on thimerosal and
neurodevelopmental disorders and left CDC for a career at GlaxoSmithKline in
July 2001. This revolving door between CDC and pharma is fostered by an
incestuous relationship between the two entities, as we have been exposed to
many “government-industry” partnerships that are supposed to help provide the
U.S. with effective, safe vaccines but instead seem to only help vaccine
manufacturers with their bottom line. Also, the pharmaceutical industry
is bolstered by the fact that it cannot be sued for vaccine design defects.

This
adds up to more and more vaccines given to our most vulnerable citizens.
Some of these vaccines still contain thimerosal and are now given to pregnant
women, exposing very tiny unborn children to this potent neurotoxin. Both
of these factor into the current autism epidemic.

Finally,
I hate to even think about it, but I believe that CDC officials are truly
afraid of the consequences of completely removing thimerosal and/or revising
the current vaccine schedule, limiting the exposure of infants and children to
the many vaccine antigens their immune systems now have to endure. What
if autism rates do go down? J.B. Handley sent me a T-shirt several years
ago with the saying, “If you caused a 6000% increase in autism, wouldn’t you
try to cover it up too.”

What
difference has your work with Chairman Issa, the committee and creation of this
hearing made?"

Well,
the coordinated effort to expose malfeasance has enabled our community, after
years of watching the prevalence rising, to have the hearings and start to get
to the bottom of this enormous concern for our society. With the material
I have compiled via the FOIA and other sources, I present a clear distinction
between what the CDC has claimed publicly and what goes on behind closed
doors. In addition, I have collaborative insight and support from a team
of advisors, medical professional resources and government agency members
conferring with me on a significant body of “evidence of malfeasance” case
studies.

As
I stated earlier, 2004 IOM Immunization Safety Review Committee report was
bought by CDC specifically to say that vaccines don't cause autism and no more
government research should be funded regarding that issue. The committee
made their "decision" in this regard based solely on 5
epidemiological studies. The scientific merit of these studies is poor
and the results have been critiqued very accurately by me and others in our
community many times. Quite frankly, challenging the science presented in
these papers is like sandblasting a soup cracker.

My
goal was to shed light on the malfeasance by the CDC and others around these
studies and the 2004 IOM report. This is crucial! Coleen Boyle of
the CDC invoked the 2004 IOM report several times when she tried to sidestep
questions asked in the hearing. The report has led to grant funds denied
for solid research from top universities specifically to address the
autism-vaccine question. And, the report was quoted many times by Special
Master Hastings in his decision regarding the Cedillo test case of the Autism
Omnibus in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in order to deny
compensation. This paved the way for the dismissal of the majority of
over 5000 cases involving "autism", most without any type of hearing.

I
also wanted to drive home the intertwined nature of the relationship between
Dr. PoulThorsen (who was indicted in Federal court on April 14, 2011 for fraud
and embezzlement of CDC grant funds) and the National Center for Birth Defects
and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD). Dr. Thorsen wrote 36 papers in
collaboration with NCBDDD scientist Dr. Diana Schendel, many as
"cover" to deflect the issue of autism causation from vaccines.
It is unclear whether CDC continues to work with Thorsen, but four papers,
co-authored by Thorsen and Schendel, have appeared in the scientific literature
since his Federal indictment. Why is this happening?

Shouldn't
the veracity of all 36 publications be investigated by CDC? Thorsen
received the majority of his grant funds from CDC after the Madsen et al. 2003
Pediatrics publication. Thorsen co-authored the paper and coordinated
(with Dr. Boyle) the CDC review and recommendation of publication to
Pediatrics. It is perhaps the most blatantly fraudulent of the 5 studies
quoted in the 2004 IOM report, as the Madsen et al. authors claimed that autism
rates went up after the removal of thimerosal from vaccines in Denmark in
1992. I really want to know why CDC paid Thorsen so handsomely after this
paper was published, given the fact that the original Madsen manuscript was
rejected by the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Lancet,
prior to finally being accepted in the journal Pediatrics.

How
did it happen that you weren’t allowed to speak at the hearing?

I
had been told by Oversight committee staff prior to Thanksgiving that I would
not be testifying and I was not on the original list of speakers that appeared
on the Oversight committee website on Monday, November 26, prior to the
hearing. However, on Tuesday after I arrived in DC, I was notified that
Chairman Issa had added me to panel. I stayed up until 3:00 a.m.
preparing my testimony. Later, on Wednesday, the Oversight committee
staff informed me that someone from the minority side of the committee had been
blocking me from testifying and that the Rules of Order did not allow for
Chairman Issa’s last minute addition. I don't know who specifically kept
me off of the panel or why at this time. Chairman Issa kindly recognized
my involvement at the start of the hearing and provided great, front-row seats
for me and my good friends Barry and Dolly Segal and Dawn Loughborough, all who
contributed immensely to the success of the hearing.

Since
you did attend the hearing, what are your feelings about what was said?

First of all, Mark Blaxill of Safeminds did a great job highlighting the
connection between environmental factors and autism, and included a slide in
his testimony that showed the connection between thimerosal and autism. He also was able to address the complete lack of
effectiveness of IACC as well as Mr. Michael Carley's erroneous assertions
about diagnostic substitution and the current autism epidemic.

Dr.
Boyle and Dr. Alan Guttmacher (NIH) were evasive in their testimony and the
committee members were very concerned about this. Many statements by Dr.
Boyle from the CDC are not supported by the information I have via the FOIA.
This is a matter of great concern to the committee and it’s a bipartisan
issue. Although Boyle invoked the 2004 IOM report to deflect questions
regarding vaccines and autism, she omitted the fact that even this report could
not exclude that a significant portion of new autism cases were caused by
vaccines in a genetically susceptible subset.

The
questions regarding vaccines and autism posed by the committee members were
extremely encouraging. Rep. Bill Posey and Rep. Vern Buchanan (my heroes)
really were able to drill down to the heart of the issue by challenging Dr.
Boyle on the current state of the science regarding causation and the lack of a
vax/unvax study. It was like listening to Dr. Dave Weldon (former rep.
from Florida) in stereo. In addition, Rep. Burton's call for the removal of
mercury from all vaccines was extremely powerful. Also, Rep. Cummings
(ranking minority member of the committee), Rep. Maloney and Rep. Smith all
highlighted the connection between vaccines and autism within their questions,
stemming from a decade of mounting verbal evidence of vaccine causation from
their constituents, and requested common sense from the CDC to review the
vaccine schedule and thimerosal. Undeniably, the door has been opened for
future investigation and better outcomes for our children.

Of the 8 panelists that spoke, only one (Mark Blaxill) spoke about autism
causation related to vaccination, when specifically questioned by the committee
members. Of the remaining panelists, Autism Speaks co-founder Bob
Wright in his opening remarks, mentioned that his daughter, Katie Wright was
concerned that vaccines were involved in his grandson’s autism. Four
panelists did not speak to the issue and two actually denied a connection
between vaccines and autism. In my opinion, this is not a balanced
panel. If it weren't for the many questions raised by the committee members
(due in large part to many great parents in our community that visited, called
or wrote these representatives), the vaccine autism issue would have been
woefully underrepresented.

What
do you hope the federal government will do next?

In
his remarks to me after the hearing, Chairman Issa indicated that the committee
will continue to investigate the connection between autism and vaccines.
This needs to include the thimerosal issue as well as the expanding vaccine
schedule where infants are given up to nine vaccines in one day.

The
CDC needs a comprehensive, independent investigation, obviously. It
shouldn't stop there - the entire Department of Health and Human Services
(including CDC, NIH, FDA, the Health Resources Services Administration, etc.)
has shown bias against even researching the connection between vaccines and
autism and continues to suppress any science that would suggest a link.
The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program should also be investigated,
with an emphasis on the whole Omnibus Autism Proceeding. The Oversight
committee members need to know that they have the power to stop the autism
epidemic by getting to the bottom of this issue.

'The possibility that immunologic stimulation from vaccines during the first 1-2 years of life could be related to the development of ASD is not well supported by the known neurobiology of ASD, which tends to be genetically determined with origins in prenatal development,19-22 although possible effects in early infancy cannot be ruled out completely. It can be argued that ASD with regression, in which children usually lose developmental skills during the second year of life, could be related to exposures in infancy, including vaccines; however, we found no association between exposure to antigens from vaccines during infancy and the development of ASD with regression.'

'Cannot be ruled out!' - 'could be related!' Those are important findings despite the fact that they probably did not want to find them. Perhaps this can be used one way or the other in one of your responses/publications. With many many thanks and kind regards,

It's unbelievable how much effort you make to fight for your rights regarding vaccine- information-choices etc. Compared to what we stand for in The Netherlands were parents can decide themselves to vaccinate or not to vaccinate your children. Most of the parents here, however, aren't aware of this choice and we are dealing with the same inertia with our government, regarding evaluation of safety and efficacy. Thank you so much Brian for your work and for sharing your valuable information.

Brian, you said that “Dr. Thorsen wrote 36 papers in collaboration with NCBDDD scientist Dr. Diana Schendel, many as 'cover' to deflect the issue of autism causation from vaccines.”

That reconciles with this email revealing the collusion between the industry “scumbag” scientist Thorsen and the CDC scientist Dr. Schendel as they obstructed a “congressional office” request for data from the flawed Denmark study:

“We are having persistent questions from one the congressional offices about data on the prevalence of autism in Denmark-in response to the NEJM article. I keep telling them that the information has been submitted for publication, I am not a co-author, and I cannot give out any information that is under peer review…Coleen [Boyle]has been saying the same thing when they go to her…Don’t feel that you have to say yes to this request-no pressure at all… again absolutely no pressure to comply. And we wanted to get your permission before we say anything. Have a good weekend. Diana [Schendel]”

The industry scumbag scientist replied “…they could recommend the very persistent person to contact the Editor of ‘Pediatrics.’ Enjoy your weekend!”

Thank you Brian,
I can see and feel the words came from you heart.I feel the pain,the hurt and the care you placed in every word.I truly hope others will read your testimony.We have to protect the children,the unborn,we have to protect the future.We have to care and we have to make them care.Thank you for your hard work.
Eileen,
you have an important point.Anemia and hypoxia would also
negatively effect the newborn's immune system and well-being.Hopefully more and more doctors will understand the benefits of delayed clamping and change their practices.

Brian, thank you for your service. Have you considered publishing the results of your FOIA efforts? Also, have any lawyers come forward to press for some of the material CDC is withholding? This is a job for an army, and you need manpower, tools, money, and more. I am amazed at what you have accomplished.

Well since the republican seem to be on board, they need to be very republican about it. CDC needs to answer... They need to demand an answer, one question at a time until all the evidence is on the plate. if you ask CDC too many questions at once, they can just ignore all of them by changing the subject. Very direct questions! One at a time! They must be answered and if they aren't, they need to be asked again until the answer come out. The first question that needs to be made public is... "Have you ever done a study on what happens to children when they receive more than one vaccine at a time?" Then the world needs to hear they have not. My God... It is like a fool trying to bake a cake with everything in the cupboard and hoping for a cake at the end of the day.

I look forward to the day when you will get to testify. Everyone should read your prepared testimony. Very interesting to read about the role of Dr. Coleen Boyle and the CDC in getting the Danish studies published in PEDIATRICS.

I will see you in D.C. in the spring if everyone will keep calling the members of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

COME ON PEOPLE!! RALLY AROUND OUR LEADER BRIAN HOOKER!!!!!!
Print out a list of the phone numbers for the key Representatives on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and call and call and write and Fax and e-mail. Nothing to difficult. My child is autistic. I request hearings on vaccines and autism. Do it over and over and have your family and friends do the same.

(Dr. Bernard Rimland was the founder and director of the Autism Research Institute. He passed away in November 2006)

I strongly oppose endorsing "The (Pretending to) Combat Autism Act" unless it includes clear and explicit language supporting meaningful research on the role of vaccines and mercury as plausible causes of the autism epidemic.

The proposed Combating Autism legislation is as sincerely dedicated to combating autism as O.J. Simpson was to finding the "real killers" of his ex-wife Nicole.

The fear that failure to pass the CAA will lead to a catastrophic failure to fund future autism research vastly overestimates the value of government funded research. Most such research is only of academic interest, which gathers dust on library shelves and advances the "publish or perish" aspirations of academic researchers. Is there any evidence whatever that more than a miniscule percent of government funded research has produced any positive and useful benefits for autistic children and their families, or ever will? If you are aware of any examples showing such research is serving a truly useful purpose, please let me know.

I was the first to announce the "autism epidemic", in 1995, and I pointed out in that article that excessive vaccines were a plausible cause of the epidemic. As you know, an enormous amount of clinical laboratory research (as opposed to epidemiological research), has been accumulated since that time, supporting my position. (I did not know then that the vaccines contained mercury, although I had been collecting data since 1967 from the mothers of autistic children, on any dental work they may have had during their pregnancy.)

The evidence is now overwhelming, despite the misinformation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Institute of Medicine. Real progress has been made in bringing recovery to autistic children by physicians and researchers who attend the autism/vaccine/mercury connection.

A few million dollars, appropriately directed, has accomplished, and will continue to accomplish much more than the tens of millions of dollars directed along paths intended to exonerate the vaccine manufacturers, the CDC, the IOM and the AAP.

I hope our consortium will purchase, or at least threaten to purchase ads in USA Today an elsewhere saying "Defeat the (Pretend to) Combat Autism Act". We should insist that significant resources be directed at exploiting the treatments that we know work, such as special diets, food supplements and chelation. We have a great deal to gain and nothing to lose by speaking out loudly against this sham legislation which would, in the long run, be harmful rather than beneficial to our children.

Brian, thank you for getting the Committee on Government Reform to hold this hearing. I faxed my comments and asked about testifying in person, but was told the agenda had been set. I hope they will hold more hearings. Thimerosal is not the only medical intervention responsible for the autism epidemic.

Obstetric procedures also need to be investigated. The worst is clamping the umbilical cord immediately after birth, which was established as an obligatory protocol at about the same time the present vaccine schedule was put in place. Most people take clamping the cord for granted, but it reveals a complete lack of understanding about the change in the anatomy of the heart that must take place before respiration via the placenta can be transferred to the lungs.

A lapse in respiration at birth was shown decades ago to selectively damage nuclei in the auditory pathway of the brain, which in turn can impede normal language development. This understanding should have become common knowledge decades ago, and use of a surgical clamp on the umbilical cord abandoned.

Definitely made something happen that wasn't going to happen>>> You're amazing! Let's roll to get the truth out in the open, get some people responsible for this travesty locked up, and move forward with what needs to happen to responsibly manage infectious disease for the nation. Somewhere things got really messed up with CDC on this...

Also, curious what Coleen Boyle's role in Agent Orange research was...hmmm it took a long time for the truth to come out on that one. Don't tell me she also let down all VietNam vets and now messes up our kids??!

Brian .. thank you for all your hard work and I wish you continued success as you .. my friend .. are on the side of the angels.

Sorry to hear that someone on the "minority side" .. citing rules of order .. blocked you from testifying. That is the first time .. hopefully the last .. that partisan "politics" appears to have reared its ugly head.

Chairman Issa's final comments indicated he will have "permanent staffing" working to ensure his previous stated two fundamental principles of the Oversight Committee are met:

#1 .. Americans have a right to know the money Washington takes from them is well spent

#2 .. America deserves efficient and effective government that works for them

From all your hard work ... that "permanent staff" will have more than enough information to challenge the "entire Department of Health and Human Services (CDC, FDA, NIH..)to justify the enormous amount of money they spend is "well spent" .. with clear and convincing evidence efficient and effective government has been the result of that spending.